Abstract/Description

Wood ash, sand, eucalyptus and guava leaves can be used to protect small quantities of seed and food grams from insect attack. Damage can also be avoided by removing crops from the field as quickly as possible after harvesting. In Senegal, Peace...

Notes

Wood ash, sand, eucalyptus and guava leaves can be used to protect small quantities of seed and food grams from insect attack. Damage can also be avoided by removing crops from the field as quickly as possible after harvesting.
In Senegal, Peace Corps volunteers have been investigating simple ways of protecting peanut seed stocks from insect attack without using chemicals. They tried using wood ash, sand, and neem leaves. Wood ash added to the peanuts at a rate of 1:4 saved over 80% of the seed from attack by bruchid beetles. Over 90% of the seed was undamaged when it was mixed with sand at a rate of 1:2. Chemical control with Actellic was no more effective than sand. Neem leaves, however, only protected 50% of the seeds. It was also found that where no protection was given at all, there was a considerable advantage in removing the seed from the field within a month of harvest instead of leaving it for up to four months, as is common practice.
In Egypt researchers have found that small quantities of rice can be protected from the rice weevil by using powdered eucalyptus or guava leaves. The leaves were sun dried and ground to a fine powder. When 15g of either powder was added to 100g of rice, no weevils matured into adults. When used in smaller doses, the guava leaf powder was found to be more toxic than the eucalyptus. It was also apparent that both powders repelled insects and that this effect lasted for seven days.
On-Farm Seed Production Project
8P 3746, Dakar, SENEGAL
Dr Aziza Sharaby
Laboratory of Plant Protection
National Research Centre
Dokki, Cairo, EGYPT